Case Summaries

Family Law

[11/07] Choose Life Illinois, Inc. v. White
In a suit by an interest group seeking on First Amendment grounds to force the state of Illinois to issue "Choose Life" specialty license plates, judgment in favor of plaintiffs is reversed where: 1) specialty license plates implicate the speech rights of private speakers, not government speech; 2) specialty plates are a nonpublic forum; and 3) the state could enforce a content-based but viewpoint-neutral ban disallowing any abortion-related message, whether pro-life or pro-choice, to be displayed on its license plates.

[11/06] Aguilar v. Aguilar
Denial of petition to undo a wife's withdrawal of trust property brought by a remainder beneficiary of the trust is reversed and remanded where: 1) even though the property the wife sought to withdraw was her share of the community property, it was too late for her to withdraw it; 2) irrevocable trusts are binding, even on their trustors; and 3) as the life beneficiary, the wife could continue to enjoy the property as held by the trust.

[11/05] In re A.E.
Order directing both parents to participate in Department of children and Family Services (DCFS)-approved "programs of parent education [and] individual counseling addressing all issues including anger management" is affirmed where the father did not object to the order directing him to participate in counseling sessions.

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Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

[11/18] Dealer Computer Svcs., Inc. v. Dub Herring Ford
Following an arbitration decision granting award to defendant-dealerships and finding arbitration provisions found in various contracts between defendant-dealerships and plaintiff-computer software and hardware vendor did not preclude class arbitration, district court judgment in favor of defendant-dealerships is vacated and remanded with instructions to dismiss where the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider plaintiff's motion to vacate the arbitration award because the matter was not ripe for judicial review.

[11/14] In Re NEXT Fin. Group, Inc.
In a suit claiming that plaintiff was wrongfully discharged for refusing to conceal allegedly fraudulent securities transactions, petition for mandamus relief is granted where plaintiff was required to arbitrate a claim that his employer wrongfully discharged him for refusing to commit an illegal act.

[11/10] Sherer v. Green Tree Servicing LLC
In a suit involving Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act claims, denial of a motion to compel arbitration is reversed where the arbitration clause in question bound plaintiff to arbitrate his dispute with defendant, even though defendant was not a signatory to the original agreement.

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Legal Malpractice

[11/14] In Re Buster
In a suit alleging negligence by a nursing home, in which plaintiff submitted an expert report signed by a nurse, and then sought leave to cure this deficiency by submitting a different report signed by a physician, petition for mandamus relief is granted where the appeals court erred in holding that a new report from a different expert was not allowed.

[11/13] Mosier v. Callister, Nebeker & McCullough
In a suit brought by the trustee of the bankruptcy estate of a nonprofit organization against a law firm and two of its attorneys alleging professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, vicarious liability, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, and civil conspiracy, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err by imputing the conduct of certain offers to the nonprofit; 2) it correctly applied the doctrine of in pari delicto in holding as a matter of law that the nonprofit's misconduct, as evidenced by the actions of its officers and directors, was greater than defendants' fault in failing to counsel the nonprofit; and 3) there was no error in applying the doctrine against a trustee in bankruptcy.

[11/13] Teague v. Kent Gen. Hosp.
In a medical-malpractice case, denials of plaintiff's motion for a new trial and for reargument of the exclusion of medical expert testimony are affirmed where: 1) defendant made a timely motion for judgment as a matter of law after plaintiff's expert failed on direct examination to establish the relevant standard of care; and 2) the trial judge did not act arbitrarily or capriciously by declining to allow additional voir dire of plaintiff's expert via telephone.

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Health Law

[11/18] Phillips v. Mathews
In a suit alleging interference and retaliation by a state-government employer in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff had given proper notice to her employer that she required FMLA leave, but this disputed fact was not material since plaintiff did not produce sufficient evidence to demonstrate that her termination was related to her FMLA leave; and 2) plaintiff had exercised rights under FMLA sufficient to subsequently bring a retaliation claim when she was terminated, but defendant demonstrated that she had been terminated for non-FMLA reasons.

[11/18] IMS Health Inc. and Verispan, LLC v. Ayotte, New Hampshire Attorney Gen.
A district court's finding that a state law, which prohibits certain transfers of physicians' prescribing histories for use in detailing, unconstitutionally abridged free speech, is reversed and the injunction against enforcement of the Prescription Information Law is vacated where: 1) regulated data transfers did not embody restrictions on protected speech under the First Amendment; 2) the state law regulated conduct, not speech; and 3) even if the Prescription Information Law amounted to a regulation of protected speech, it passed constitutional muster.

[11/17] Rhode Island Hosp. v. Leavitt
Grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff-hospital regarding calculation of full time equivalent (FTE) residents for purposes of determining the indirect medical education (IME) adjustment owed to the defendant-hospital, is reversed and remanded where the the Secretary of Health and Human Services' finding that the IME payment was only intended to reimburse teaching hospitals for increased patient care costs and that residents performing educational research were not assigned to an eligible area of the hospital under the governing FTE regulation was not "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law."

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